Don’t know where this picture is from, but I have had the a/c on for twelve days. Twelve. This is a record for me, because I do like to open the windows. But it is like soup out there. The dew point has been in the 70’s for the whole twelve days, I think. It’s more like the DIScomfort index. Hot and sticky is my least favorite weather condition.

I was quite ill in early July. Went to the ER after several days of pain, pain, pain and misery, and had many tests. Nothing to say what I had, but I am better now. Still pretty weak, but slowly, slowly improving. I did get an extra homemaker hour and a second homemaker who will do shopping, food prep and cooking, and cleaning up after. Yes. Cooking is not something I do a lot of, because pain and exhaustion makes it very difficult. So real food again. Hooray!

One thing about any illness is that it makes the fibromyalgia much worse. So besides whatever illness you have, you are in ten times as much pain as normal. Not fun.

I’ve been back-and-forthing about getting another cat, and now it turns out the new homemaker is allergic, so that decided that. I miss having another living thing around,though. Being alone most of the time, it kind of gets to you, although after many years, I have gotten pretty used to it. Charles, my non-cooking homemaker, worries about it for me. Kind of sweet. He’s not the best cleaner I’ve ever had, but he is a really nice guy. So I have kitchen Lori, and everything else Charles. First time I’ve ever had two different homemakers, which is what they are called by the agencies.

Well, just thought I’d check in. If anybody is still out there, hope you are having a good summer. I know it’s not a good summer in most areas. Global warming is real. Vote the idiots who deny it and are doing everything possible to take away any sort of defenses we have, out of office. Please. Those people are blinded by dollar signs, and profit is all that matters to them. And yet, people still vote for them. I do not understand humanity. We seem to be one of the stupider species on this rock. Oh, well.

We’re having a heat wave. Oh, joy. It’s barely noon, and it’s in the 90’s. Fortunately, I have central air.

Have been feeling crap, went to doctor, got an antibiotic for a tooth/ear? thing, and slowly feeling better. Slowly. I think it’s leftover from the tooth infection from March. Seven days of antibiotics is never enough. I actually had to convince the doctor to give me these, and ten days worth. Doctors! They can be difficult. You have to stand up for yourself with them.

Need a shot of energy, but it’s not happening so far. So many things I want to do, so few things actually get done. I remember energy, and pain-free me, and getting things done. I’d like that me back, please.

Split up my huge spider plant, now I have two big pieces and no pots to put them in. Oh, well. They just keep on reproducing all the time, so I think I can toss these and not feel too bad about it. My little Christmas cactus that just sat there for years has gone crazy since I repotted and moved it. It seems happy now. Happy cactus. Why is it called cactus, since it isn’t one. I had one that a neighbor gave me years ago, and one year it bloomed for six months straight. I hadn’t moved it or repotted it or anything, it just went bananas that year. I like plants. I miss my garden a lot sometimes. Digging in the dirt is fun.

Been reading tons of fan fiction. I have tons of books to read, too, but none of them appeal right now. Everything I do in life seems to be based on my mood at the time. I wish I was one of those people who did things because they need to be done, but I’m more ‘do it when the mood hits me’. And I actually have energy. That’s a big thing, too, Not as tired as I was this time last week, so progress is being made.

I put some little bowls with baking soda and orange essential oils around the house, because being shut up it gets this weird odor. It’s from the rug, which was old old old when I moved in eighteen years ago, and they won’t replace it while I live here. Maybe carpet cleaners would help? I want to have the organizer back, too. I used to be so good at organizing, but illness seems to have robbed me of that skill, or else it’s just living in this tiny little prison box that’s sapped my ability to think of ways of doing things. I don’t know. Bringing in fresh eyes is a good thing, and she’s not out of my price range, so long as I’m careful with my money for the month. Done rambling for today. Stay cool, people.

Went to Westport with Tess. Lovely day, lovely ocean, had lunch at a little place she found on line. Lobster rolls. New England cut hot dog buns, tiny bit of lettuce, topped with lobster, lobster, lobster. Drawn butter (ghee) on the side, and the best french fries ever. These were cut and cooked on site, none of that frozen, pre-done crap. Really tasted like fries my dad used to make. He made his own waffle-fry cutter once, too. My dad could cook. Seriously.

We used to spend a lot of time near the ocean when I was married. Plymouth or Newport (Second Beach, anyone) while we lived in Mass, then all up and down the NH/Maine coast when we lived in NH. I miss those days sometimes. There is nothing like the ocean. Nothing.

So today is recovery day. I always forget to figure in recovery day, but it always happens anyway. Never plan activities two days in a row when you have fibro. Trust me on this.

Today is another beautiful, gorgeous, sunny with blue skies and white fluffy clouds kind of day. This is a really good summer so far. Somes years I’ve had the a/c on almost every day starting in May. So far only one day this year, and that was for my homemaker. Cleaning when it’s hot and sticky is not fun, and worse when you’re on the low end of the pay scale. Why is it the people who do the actual work are the ones who get shafted in the pay department? Hardly seems fair.

Going to lie down and read now. Every part of my poor ole bod hurts. But it’s a beautiful day, which makes up for a lot. 😄

Oh, got a little bit of sunburn, too. I am definitely white Anglo-Saxon, and the sun is not my skin’s friend. Most of my ancestors are from the British Isles. Rain, rain, rain. After that, more rain. 🙂

Been silent again for a bit. Been struggling. Feeling depressed. I’ve now read that melatonin can cause depression, so am mostly avoiding it, and the sleeping thing is not going well. Not sure what to do about that. Feel like I am dying of loneliness. Missing my garden, wishing I had an outside so I could go sit in it. Looked up available apts in my area, and OMG are they all out of my price range, or what? Rents are ridiculous, and I am very lucky to be where I am. Even though it doesn’t have an outside. Stuck. No options. I’m sure there are a lot of people like that, and in much worse circumstances. This is not a bad place to live at all. I just really miss having access to outdoors that does not mean a main street in the middle of downtown. Anyway, aside from all that, am not doing too badly. Reading a lot, watching shows on Netflix, etc. The Sense8 movie was the best wrap-up ever. So glad I got to see it. I almost didn’t watch this show from the get go, but gave it a second chance, and never regretted it for a second. Really good show. All the really good shows get cancelled, in favor of the lowest common denominator drek, but you get to enjoy it while it lasts. LOST OMG was LOST ever a good show, up to a point. Then it just got stupid. Same with Battlestar Galactica, the new one. Edge of seat stuff, then not. Could have skipped the entire last season and not missed anything worth watching. Wish I had, actually. Am doing NCIS, and will until they bring on the blond. She just ruined it for me. Not because she’s blond, people. Am rewatching some favs, Midsommer Murders, cause it’s beautiful, Lewis because I love Lewis, and laurence fox, OMG. New Tricks, just because. And I love their version of “It’s all right”, sung by Dennis Waterman. I watched all of Keeping Faith with Eve Myles. I don’t like Eve Myles, because Gwen, but it was pretty good anyway. I was giving her a chance. There’s a series of movies ‘The Suspicions of Mr Whicher, which are pretty good, too. The best thing about all of this is no commercials. I love no commercials. It’s my favorite thing. So that’s the update. Yay.

I’m so thrilled with not being overwhelmed in the kitchen anymore, I rearranged my spice rack and am making pizza and chocolate bread. Store bought dough, but hey, you can’t have everything. I’m making pizza with olive oil, garlic, onions, mozzarella, and some Italian seasonings. No tomato. The chocolate bread is you enfold some Hershey bar or whatever chocolate you like in bread dough, sealing edges. Let it rise, bake and yummy yum yum. You can just stuff chocolate in hot fresh bread, but I like it this way.

So achy and painful today, but not as exhausted as yesterday. The thing with fibro is sometimes the pain doesn’t start til two or three days later, and sometimes then lasts for day after day after day. But it was so worth it.

Pizza. I only used half a package of dough so I had the rest for the chocolate bread, it’s in m iron skillet and it’s not been baked yet. Smells really good, though.

And done:

Came Sunday. I am amazed. In three hours, she completely redid my kitchen. Helped me decide what to keep and what to donate, made things easily accessible for me, took away discards and donations. Really impressed. She is very nice and fun and friendly, and so worth the money. Planning to have her back to do another room next month.
Yesterday I was exhausted, because you kind of have to take an active part in the organizing, and today the pain has hit in full force. But it was so worth it. Happy camper is me. 🙂

My friend Tess came over and rescued me from stir-craziness. We discussed kitchen organizing, she tried to teach me to knit (Ha Ha Ha), and we played Big Kahuna, our favorite game from Big Fish Games. Knitting and I are not compatible. Tess can’t crochet and I can, so we can trade off made items. 🙂 Didn’t get anything spiffed in kitchen, but am going to load the dishwasher in a bit, and maybe run it even though it won’t be full, just so all the dishes will be in place before the great reorganization happens. So not a bad day, overall. Yay.

is coming tomorrow.  She has another job and tomorrow is the only day she has free.  Other job is pretty much the same, but for a company, not herself.  I am  hoping to spiff up the kitchen a bit today.  Took three ibuprofen a few minutes ago, so hopefully I will be in some sort of working order later on.

After some icky humid days, it is going to dry out this afternoon.  Turned on the a/c yesterday for the first time this year, mainly for the homemaker, who then spent the entire two hours at the grocery store.  But the a/c is still on.  🙂

Been thinking a lot about this being alone thing.  Friends move on.  I get that.  They don’t need you anymore because they have other things in their lives, not having a car, so can’t go to them instead of them coming to you, that makes a difference, too.  So what do hermits do?  How do they survive without much human contact?  I’m actually pretty good on my own, it’s just sometimes it feels like I am dying of loneliness.  Just sometimes, though.  I need to think on this.  What to do, what to do?  🙂 

Just felt the need to say that.  Over and out.

Yesterday it was in the high 80s F.  Today it’s in the low 50s.  I love New England.  It had better not snow, however.  Nearly June, people.  Had to close the window next to me, as a cold, cold wind was blowing straight in.  Brrrr.  Having coffee (at 2::47 pm, yes, I am crazy), because coffee/awake all night, coffee/awake all night.  The scales balanced in favor of the coffee.  Not that I probably wouldn’t be awake all night anyway.  🙂  Tomorrow’s Monday, and it’s another day of absolutely nothing happening, so who cares, right?  Tuesday and Friday, when my homemaker comes, are the only days I am pretty much guaranteed to see another human being, or speak to one, mostly.  I know, whiny Jean is whiny.  Not meaning to, just showing you my life of living alone with a chronic, debilitating illness.  Fun times.

After my excellent day, right back to not-so-excellent.  Wasn’t kidding when I said one good day in a row.  Didn’t even fire up the laptop yesterday.  Now I am just here, alone again, with nothing to do or look forward to.  Why can’t I motivate myself?  I could be crocheting, or trying to figure out that whole knitting thing, or maybe attempting to cook something, or sort something or do SOMETHING.  But no, it’s read or watch tv.  I am such a loser. Motivation, is there an app for that? A shot or pill that bestows instant energy would be nice, too.

I binged this show called Hard Sun last night.  Pretty much a cop show, but with the end of the world as a kicker.  I though it would be people preparing, etc, but that wasn’t it at all.  Still, a good show.  One of my fav actresses, Nikki Amuka-Bird, is in it.  First became aware of her in the Torchwood episode Sleepers, and she was fantastic in it.  Also there is Derek Riddell, another fav,. Oh,and it has Ukweli Roach, another fav.  I have a lot of favs, it seems. There is also the neatest flash drive, ever.  I want one.

I don’t know why, and I am not questioning it, but I am having an excellent day.  The ‘see that thing over there that needs doing, pop up and do it right then’ kind of day.  I am enjoying it to the max, because it will no doubt be gone tomorrow.  Live in the moment, cause the moment is your life.  Big, big, big smile.  Maybe I’m bipolar.  Except I know I know I’m not.  I just have this weird illness that changes from minute to minute.  This is a very good minute, so I though I’d just share that with you, dear readers.  🙂 Is there a gif that says ‘Happy, happy, joy, joy’, cause that’s how I’m feeling. Actually, I think that’s from an ad for something.  🙂

Seems Charles did not buy tilapia for the soup, but some fish he couldn’t remember.  So maybe I don’t hate tilapia.  But I’m still going for cod next time.

Gorgeous, beautiful day.  85 degrees, but feels much cooler in here, even with windows open.  Was trying to get my housing papers sorted, and am out of magenta ink in the printer, so it won’t print.  Black and white doesn’t use magenta, does it?  Sheesh!  The latest update has messed some things up on here, too. Did I mention that already?  And the whole shebang is much, much slower.

Feeling pretty good today, so hooray!  Got a couple of new followers, too.  Don’t know what changed.  I rarely get new followers.  But welcome, welcome.  Please feel free to comment.

I have a black and blue burger from Market Basket to cook for dinner.  Oh, yum.  Blue cheese mixed in with the burger, and the edges rolled in crushed peppercorns.  Iron skillet, here I come.  They have really good beef at Market Basket.  Wish it was closer, so I could send my homemaker instead of only being able to go when Tess and I go, which is not a regular thing.  But when we do go, it is so much fun.  Shopping isn’t meant to be fun, is it?  But it is here.  Not at any of the other grocery stores around, though. I do like Trader Joe’s but I wouldn’t call it a fun time.  It’s a lot further away, too, so don’t go there very often.  They have some great frozen and premade things, which is good for me.  Cooking is not always possible, so I tend to open box, eat contents.  Sooooo Healthy.  LOL

Finally.  Very nice.  Needs more heat than I added, cause I wanted to start out cautiously, and I think he cooked the fish way more than it needed to be.  I think I would add some seasonings, not sure what.  What goes with tomato besides oregano?  I would make this again.  Very light soup.  Tasty. 🙂

Finally got a good night’s sleep, only to wake up in full-body pain.  Ow.  All-over ow.  I usually wake up saying ow, but it’s generally more localized.  Not today.  Hot shower helps.  I have a shower stool from when I had knee surgery, and I just sit on it and let hot water run over me.  Lovely.  Then I took 3 extra-strength Excedrin at 11.  Still waiting for them to kick in at 12:30.

Well, this blog is supposed to be about fibro, so here’s some fibro reality for you.  Yay.  🙂

Gray again.  Rainy, too, though, and I can always welcome gray if it’s accompanied by rain or snow.  I like rain, and I like snow.

I have Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol stuck in my head.  From an Amazon music playlist.  “If I lay here, If I just lay here, Would you lie with me and just forget the world?”  It’s not the words so much, as the music.  So melancholy.  Fits with how I’ve been feeling lately.  Great song, anyway.

Charles the Homemaker comes today, and I am sending him out for the fish, so I can make the darn soup I’ve been trying to make since Friday.  Just googled Nigerian Fish Soup, and Charles seems to left some things out.  Still smells fantastic so far, so will discuss this with him.  Not much else going on, so later.  🙂 Here’s a soup pic from the web.

Sunshine.  Glorious, beautiful sunshine.  Early this morning the leaves across the street were glittering with it, like the ocean sometimes does.  Beautiful.

Slightly less whiny today, thank goodness.  Having a lot of trouble sleeping, which means days are spent napping or being a zombie.  Very frustrating, and being alone makes it worse.

Had a message today that I got a lot of new followers.  Checked.  Nope.  What’s that about?  I’ve been blogging since 2005, I think, and I have 39 followers.  This is not the most popular blog in the blogverse.  Probably because it’s not that kind of blog.  It’s mostly what’s on my mind at the moment.  Sometimes I’m angry at the world, sometimes I’m angry with my life, sometimes I’m having a spectacularly good day.  Sometimes things are bothering me, whether it’s something going on in the world, or just something going on with me, and writing about it helps.  It’s not a ‘make money’ blog, or a ‘how many followers can I amass’ blog, or a ‘my blog is more popular than your blog’ blog.  It’s just me, saying whatever I have to say today.

I try not to be too whiny, but I think I do not succeed with that at all.  But there’s a lot of good in my life, in  life in general, and I do try to remember that and write about it sometimes.  I get down.  This is a hard life, being chronically ill.  It would be different if I had a big family around, and lots of support from friends, but I don’t.  My friend Tess  has another friend who frequently asks for some sort of help.  Shopping, getting to an appointment, etc.  Same things I need.  But if Tess is busy, this friend has a whole list of other people she can call on.  I have Tess.  Poor Tess.  I have turned into a burden instead of a friend.  I hate that.  I really hate that.  It’s very hard to be the needy one in any relationship.  I read about people who have spouses who are there for them, taking care of them, doing what they can to make the ill person’s life manageable for them. Wouldn’t that be lovely?

I guess what I’m saying is that sometimes I feel abandoned.  Sometimes I get angry at the unfairness (Life is fair?  Seriously?) of it all.  Frustrated that I can’t do the things I want/need to do.  Sometimes I just feel sorry for myself.  I’m human, after all,  I don’t want to be that person, but sometimes you just have to give up for a while, and wallow in your misery.  Fighting every moment of every day is very, very tiring.  Fight to get up, fight to get something to eat, fight to get dressed, fight to just not lay down and pull the covers over your head.  You have to fight to do things in spite of constant pain and exhaustion.  This is what chronic illness is.  A constant battle to survive in spite of.  And sometimes you just can’t do it right now.  There a people who are a lot sicker than I am, so you can imagine how hard their lives must be.

I remember reading, before I got this myself, about a woman who wanted that Dr. Kevorkian to help her die, because she just didn’t want to live with the pain of this illness any more.  That’s ridiculous, said I, before I understood what it’s like.  But I don’t want to end it.  Never give up, never surrender.  I have always been a fighter, and I always will be.  Today, the leaves were glittering from the sunshine.  I wouldn’t want to have missed that.

Little update:  Today would have been my anniversary, if my husband hadn’t left me and then died eight years later.

Gray, gray, gray.  We had a gorgeous gray carpet that you just sunk into.  It was heaven.  I hated it.  I just felt so depressed all the time, we finally gave it to a friend.  Gray and I are not compatible, Mother Nature.  Come on!

I don’t do well just being alone.  Except for my homemaker three hours a week, and Tess taking me to the Stop & Shop on Friday, I have been alone since last week some time.  A good week or more  i know it’s all in my head, but I have a hard time fighting it.  I keep checking my phone to see if any one I actually know has emailed me, and except for Tess almost every day, there is no one.  No one calls or emails to see if I’m okay, even.  My family.  No one.  Makes one feel quite alone and unloved and isolated, and even though I am an introvert who needs some alone time, too much is just bad news.  Don’t know how to fix it. “Go out”  Where?  How?  Even if I could walk any distance, there’s no place to go.  My life has gotten very small in the time I’ve lived here, and keeps getting smaller all the time.  Just have to live with it, and not give in. Never Give Up, Never
Surrender.  I’m trying.  Seriously, I am.

Sad Jean Is sad.

Up early, for a change.  Yesterday was my one good day in a row, apparently.  Today I am foggy again, aching all over, and tired.  Yay.  It’s cool and windy and this  mornings overcast seems to be slowly giving way to sun.  Very slowly.

What do I hope to accomplish today? Well, had a shower, and am now hoping to get enough energy to get dressed.  Been sitting here at the laptop for a couple of hours now.  Typical day.  Sitting at the laptop doesn’t make more pain, so I tend to spend a lot of time at it.  Or reading.  Which only causes my hands to cramp sometimes.  Cheerful today, aren’t I?

What am I looking forward to?  New summer shirts I ordered are meant to be delivered today, and Charles, my homemaker, is going to buy the ingredients and then make his fish soup for me.  It has jalapenos in it.  I like spicy food, just hope it’s not going to be smoke-from-my-ears hot.  I asked him for the recipe and he offered to cook it for me.  Yay, Charles.

This is from my birthday present from my friend Beth.  It’s Jacqui Lawson’s garden program.  I added the rain.

But much better today, finally.  Little update:  Just noticed the last good day I had was May 9th.  I used to be lucky to have one a month, so I guess I have improved.  🙂

Has gotten a bit humid.  Don’t love humid. Also gray, gray, gray.  Had our first thunderstorm of the season a few days ago.  Spectacular.  Wind, rain, thunder, lightning.  My lights went off/on just that quick at the same time the lights across the street went out. I had unplugged everything just in case.  I always do if there’s a bad storm coming.  I had friends who had every single electric item, including all their computers, fried during a storm they were not at home for.  Frig, tv, you name it.  All fried.  He was in IT, too, so knew to have surge protectors and all, but they did not help.  Caution is a good thing if you ARE home.

Brain fog has finally lifted.  Was looking for those housing papers yesterday, going through every single piece of paper I have, for the third time.  Nothing.  Looked again today, and the first thing I saw was one of the papers I need.  Brain fog is not fun.

Physically, not as much pain either, but I did take two Aleve and a melatonin last night.  Aleve seems to work more than the twelve hours its advertised as.  I try not to take it too often, because it can cause serious stomach issues.

Looking forward to the Sense8 movie.  Did you watch this show on Netflix?  I really loved it, so of course it got cancelled.  At least there’s a finish-up movie.  Almost did not watch the show, because it was very violent at first, but kept reading about it and decided to try again.  Hooked, hooked, hooked.  LOL

Going to go make some lunch.